0000000000150463

AUTHOR

Fabio Cavaliere

Magnetic field dependence of quantum dot ground states

We study the ground states of a planar quantum dot with N = 5,6,7 electrons, in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Using a spatially unrestricted Hartree Fock technique followed by spin and angular momentum symmetry restoration, chemical potentials are calculated and transitions between different ground states are identified. A spin blockade in the 6 -> 7 transition is found. The structure of the quantum dot wave functions is illustrated by their electron densities. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Transport properties of quantum dots in the Wigner molecule regime

The transport properties of quantum dots with up to N=7 electrons ranging from the weak to the strong interacting regime are investigated via the projected Hartree-Fock technique. As interactions increase radial order develops in the dot, with the formation of ring and centered-ring structures. Subsequently, angular correlations appear, signalling the formation of a Wigner molecule state. We show striking signatures of the emergence of Wigner molecules, detected in transport. In the linear regime, conductance is exponentially suppressed as the interaction strength grows. A further suppression is observed when centered-ring structures develop, or peculiar spin textures appear. In the nonline…

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Universal transport dynamics in a quenched tunnel-coupled Luttinger liquid

The transport dynamics of a quenched Luttinger liquid tunnel-coupled to a fermionic reservoir is investigated. In the transient dynamics, we show that for a sudden quench of the electron interaction universal power-law decay in time of the tunneling current occurs, ascribed to the presence of entangled compound excitations created by the quench. In sharp contrast to the usual non universal power-law behavior of a zero-temperature non-quenched Luttinger liquid, the steady state tunneling current is ohmic and can be explained in terms of an effective quench-activated heating of the system. Our study unveils an unconventional dynamics for a quenched Luttinger liquid that could be identified in…

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Spin projected unrestricted Hartree-Fock ground states for harmonic quantum dots

We report results for the ground state energies and wave functions obtained by projecting spatially unrestricted Hartree Fock states to eigenstates of the total spin and the angular momentum for harmonic quantum dots with $N\leq 12$ interacting electrons including a magnetic field states with the correct spatial and spin symmetries have lower energies than those obtained by the unrestricted method. The chemical potential as a function of a perpendicular magnetic field is obtained. Signature of an intrinsic spin blockade effect is found.

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Spin and rotational symmetries in unrestricted Hartree–Fock states of quantum dots

Ground state energies are obtained using the unrestricted Hartree Fock method for up to four interacting electrons parabolically confined in a quantum dot subject to a magnetic field. Restoring spin and rotational symmetries we recover Hund first rule. With increasing magnetic field, crossovers between ground states with different quantum numbers are found for fixed electron number that are not reproduced by the unrestricted Hartree Fock approximation. These are consistent with the ones obtained with more refined techniques. We confirm the presence of a spin blockade due to a spin mismatch in the ground states of three and four electrons.

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General Hartree–Fock method and symmetry breaking in quantum dots

Interaction and correlation effects in quantum dots play a fundamental role in defining both their equilibrium and transport properties. Numerical methods are commonly employed to study such systems. In this paper we present a two-step approach in which a Hartree-Fock method, with explicit symmetry breaking, is followed by a projection technique for symmetry restoration. Three different Hartree-Fock implementations, with an increasing degree of symmetry breaking, are introduced and applied to the study of interacting planar dots with N = 3 and 6, electrons in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. In addition to the restricted and unrestricted techniques already employed for quantu…

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